Town seeking state grant extension; trustees, hockey group short $4,000

Faced with the prospect of losing $64,000, dismayed town trustees decided at their last meeting to ask the state for another extension to fulfill the terms of a lottery grant for the municipal hockey rink.

The Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel is concerned that U S West's sale of telephone lines in 17 rural communities to Citizens Communication isn't as sweet a deal as both companies would have customers believe.
Telephone lines in Yampa and Oak Creek would be included in the sale, which is expected to be completed by February.

Yampa Valley outdoor school taught in the biggest of laboratories

Two dozen Routt County sixth-graders got down and dirty as they got close-up to their environment through the Yampa Valley Science School.
The school brought the sixth-graders together with high school-aged junior counselors and older senior counselors outside of the classroom. The goal of the school is to put students in a hands-on learning atmosphere, according to Gretchen Van De Carr of the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps.

The horses on Snake Island have been moved to higher ground, bicyclists on the Yampa River Core Trail are battling river currents in many spots and a few homes and businesses are trying to prevent water from escaping the swollen banks of area creeks and rivers.

Who is responsible for erosion and sediment control contractors, designers, permitting agencies, project owners, someone else? Are local water resources remaining healthy?
These are just a couple of several important questions that will be addressed at tonight's panel discussion on erosion control, sponsored by the Routt County Department of Environmental Health, the City of Steamboat Springs, and the International Erosion Control Association.

KBCR Big Country Radio has undergone some big staff changes.
Program director Tom Palmer has been promoted to station manager, replacing longtime station manager Nathleen Rife. In a prepared statement, the board of directors of KBCR said that Rife was offered a sales position with the radio station but chose to resign.
Rife did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Variety of local 'stakeholders' to meet at Economic Summit

This year's Economic Summit is all about action and will be the table around which community leaders and residents are invited to join forces and face the uncertainty that growth and change can bring.
The challenge for participants will be to work together instead of against each other.
"It's unusual that there is common ground in civil society," said Chris Diamond, president of the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. "But there always comes a point when people have to find it."

The Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors will host its 25th annual Scholarship Golf Tournament, Dinner and Auction June 13 and 14. All proceeds from the event will go to a scholarship fund for Routt County high school students graduating in 2001.
Since 1976, the board of Realtors has been giving back to the community with the annual event. Last year's tournament raised more than $16,000 and awarded 15 scholarships to graduating seniors of Steamboat Springs and Hayden high schools.

The Routt County Rifle Club will host a charity shooting competition for women June 17 and 18 to raise money for Northwest Colorado Aid and Support.
The fund-raiser, sponsored by the Women's Recreational Shooting Association, is being called the Women's Charity Handgun Event.

'Six and One' retention plan touted as a way to stop skier numbers from steadily declining

Faced with predictions that say skier visits will slip away like a beginner on a green run slowly but surely the National Ski Areas Association is developing a plan it hopes will turn the trend around.